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Chapter 11: Let the Games Begin!
CHAPTER 11 Let The Games Begin! 11.1 INTRODUCTION Ah, the bloody spectacle of it all! This chapter will introduce you to the way we conduct festivals, chariot races and gladiatorial events in the Legacy of Sulla. Members or LOS can partake in the games in two distinct ways: they can enter chariot teams or gladiators which they have purchased and trained, and hope that their men have what it takes to prevail in the arena or the Circus Maximus. Or, they can attend the games as members of the audience, and use the occasion to interact with other PCs and Writers as they enjoy the day‘s events. Indeed, some of the most interesting inter-personal postings between our characters have taken place in the stands ―between bouts,‖ as it were. Aside from entertainment and an opportunity to do some creative writing, what are the benefits of participating in this aspect of the game?  Stables, Palestras, Chariot Teams and Gladiators are all considered ―luxury items.‖ Owning them can contribute significantly to your monthly flow of influence points.  If your men are good, they can earn you some money. It‘s not uncommon for a gladiator who earns a major tournament to win 40,000 D for his PC owner.  Non-combat events which are staged as part of a festival (poetry readings, etc.) can be a source of influence points.  Sponsoring a major event (as either an Aedile or private citizen) is an expensive proposition, but the people certainly appreciate it, and you will be rewarded with a substantial boost in influence points. The games postings are made in the ―Forum‖ thread. 11.2 AEDILES The Aediles are responsible for holding the four annual Ludi in the LOS festival calendar. Two are held by the Curule Aediles and two by the Plebeian Aediles. The Aedile who receives the most votes in each election shall be referred to as the Senior Aedile, with his partner referred to as the Junior Aedile. Each Aedile must put on one Festival Event in his Quarter. If he fails to do so, he will lose the base level of Auctoritas and Gravitas assigned to each festival. All Aediles holding at least one Festival Event will receive this base level as a bonus. The Games are one of the great fun aspects of LOS. Any PC can participate with his gladiators or charioteers, and everyone seems to enjoy making conversational posts during the course of the games from their vantage point in the stands. 11.3 LUDI One festival will be held every quarter LOS time, one per month IRL. The games, in order, are as follows: 11.3.1 Ludi Megalenses Martius et Aprilis (Junior Plebeian Aedile); Two Events; 5 Auctoritas, 5 Gravitas. Celebrates Magna Mater (Great Mother), the goddess Cybele. 11.3.2 Ludi Ceriales Maius et Junius (Junior Curule Aedile); Two Events; 5 Auctoritas, 5 Gravitas. A spring festival, honors Ceres, the goddess of grain and plants. 11.3.3 Ludi Romani Quintilis et Sextilis (Senior Curule Aedile); Three Events; 10 Auctoritas, 5 Gravitas. The chief Roman festival, honoring Jupiter. 11.3.4 Ludi Plebeii September et October (Senior Plebeian Aedile); Three Events; 10 Auctoritas, 5 Gravitas. The plebeian festival, second only to the Ludi Romani in importance. 11.4 EVENTS Each festival must be made up of at least one Event, up to a maximum of two or three Events, depending on the scale of the festival. When Aediles are appointed, it is their responsibility to organize Events and post details in the FORUM thread, with the order of Events listed. There are a number of Events that can be put on by Aediles, and they cannot organize more than one of each type in their Quarter. There are two types of events that the Aedile can decide to hold, Games Events and Storyline Events. Games Events produce a gain of Auctoritas, depending on the expense of the games. Storyline games produce a gain of Auctoritas and Gravitas depending on the expense of the event, and ratings given both by Players and the Arbiter. Games Events consist of: Gladiatorial Games, 10-20 Auctoritas Chariot Races, 10-20 Auctoritas Storyline Events consist of: Theatre, 0-5 Auctoritas, 0-10 Gravitas Poetry, 0-5 Auctoritas, 0-10 Gravitas Battle re-enactments, 0-10 Auctoritas, 0-5 Gravitas Religious festival, 0-10 Auctoritas, 0-5 Gravitas All festivals must include at least one Games Event. 11.5 GAMES EVENTS COSTS AND INCENTIVES Gladiatorial games with less then 10 gladiator entrants will cost the Aedile/Sponsor 25,000 D, and produce 10 Auctoritas. Those with 11-20 will cost 50,000 D and produce 15 Auctoritas. Those with 21+ will cost 80,000 D and produce 20 Auctoritas. Chariot races with less than 5 entrants will cost the Aedile/Sponsor 25,000 D and produce 10 Auctoritas. Those with 6-10 will cost 50,000 D and produce 15 Auctoritas. Those with 11+ will cost 80,000 D and produce 20 Auctoritas. The Aedile/Sponsor of either a gladiatorial game or chariot race will gain a bonus of Auctoritas with the people. Private citizens may only hold 1 gladiatorial competition and 1 chariot race every LOS year. Aediles may hold up to 2 of each. 11.6 STORYLINE EVENTS COSTS AND INCENTIVES All Storyline Events have 15 Influence points available, and players will receive points depending on the outlay expended on them, and the quality of the post(s) as determined by Player Ratings and Arbiter Ratings. Players can decide how to divide their Influence points gained, up to the Base level for Gravitas and Auctoritas for each event. Storyline Events reward hard-working Aediles who have good storywriting skills and creativity but are less well endowed with cash. Spending 20, 000 D will produce 5 Influence points. If 15,000 D is spent, this will produce 3 Influence points. If only 10,000 D is spent (the minimum to put on the Event), this will produce 1 Influence point. At the end of the Festival, all players will be invited to post a score out of 5 in the FORUM thread for the quality of each Storyline Event. E.g, an averagely good theatrical production may be graded 3, while a spectacular Battle re-enactment might be graded 5. An average score will then be produced (Total score/Number of voting players=Average player rating out of 5), and the number of points received will be given to the Aedile as Influence points. The Arbiter(s) will also rate each Storyline Event out of 5, which will also be given as Influence points. 11.7 GLADIATORS There are several types of gladiators, based on value: Mediocre: 3000 D : -2 Modifier Good: 6000 D : 0 Modifier Premium: 7500 D : 1 Modifier In order to keep your gladiators, you must do one of two things. Either purchase a palaestra, or gladiator school, for 22500 D, or pay 50% of your gladiator‘s initial cost each year for housing him. Upon purchase each gladiator is assigned Fortuna and Ability ratings by the Arbiter(s), based on random ten-sided die rolls – one die roll for each value. It is then listed on the Games page of the SOTR. Either the Aediles, or regular Roman citizens, may hold gladiatorial games. When doing so, they must set an entrance fee for each gladiator, to be no less than 3000 D. Once all gladiators have been entered, the Aedile/Sponsor must break them into equal groups of ten or less. Then, each gladiator in each group is assigned a number from 1 to 10 at random. These will be placed in the Gladiator calculator. After this, the Aedile/Sponsor must determine what kind of games they are to hold – tournament or series. Tournaments are just that – tournaments that ultimately end in one winning gladiator (in this case, the winning gladiator receives the total of the entry fees). Series games are where multiple individual matches occur. Winners of these matches are returned their entrance fees, and awarded the entrance fee of their defeated counterpart. To determine the combats, the Aedile/Sponsor will then roll a ten-sided die for each gladiator, and enter this into the Gladiatorial calculator under Combat Roll. In the event of a tie, the calculator will report a draw, and the combat rolls must be redone. Winning gladiators receive one point of Ability. Gladiators who win three contests consecutively are awarded three points of Fortune. Gladiators lose one point of Fortune and gain one point of Ability for every four contests they enter, regardless of win/lose records. Fortuna may become negative. If a gladiator is defeated in a match by more than seven points, the defeated gladiator dies. The winning gladiator in a deathmatch receives an additional point of ability. There are upper limits to both ability and Fortune – therefore, a gladiator can accumulate no more than 20 Ability or Fortuna points. In the event that a gladiator maxes out both Ability and Fortuna points, it is automatically manumitted. He‘s survived that long, and led a lucky life – he deserves it! 11.8 CHARIOT RACES There are several types of charioteer teams, based on value: Mediocre: 4500 D : -1 Modifier Good: 9000 D : 0 Modifier Premium: 13500 D : 2 Modifier In order to keep your chariot teams, you must do one of two things. Either purchase a stables and baLOSacks for 30,000 D, or pay 50% of your team‘s initial cost each year for housing them. Upon purchase each team is assigned Fortuna and Ability ratings by the Arbiter(s), based on random ten-sided die rolls – one die roll for each value. It is then listed on the Games page of the SOTR. As with gladiatorial games, entrance fees of no less than 3000 D must be levied upon all entrees in a chariot race. No more than 10 teams may enter a race. To determine the outcome, the Aedile/Sponsor will roll a ten-sided die for each team entered, and enter this value into the Chariot Race calculator as well as each team‘s Class, Fortuna and Ability values. The team with the highest overall score is declared the winner of the race. The Aedile/Sponsor will then roll two ten sided dice to determine the results of Jockeying (Jockeying is the process of clashing and bumping inherent to all races). The two numbers rolled will represent the two teams involved in the jockeying. The Aedile/Sponsor will then roll a ten-sided die for both teams, and apply this value as the Combat Roll in the Chariot Combat calculator, as well as the Class, Fortune and Ability values for both. If the end difference is larger than 15, the losing team dies, and is lost to its owner. Jockeying can only be done once. The winner of the race is awarded the entrance fees, and one point of ability. The winner of a Jockeying match-up gains one point of Ability and one point of Fortuna. If a team wins three races consecutively, it is awarded 3 points of Fortuna. For every four races a team participates in, it shall lose 1 point of Fortuna. Each team has a maximum point count of 30 Fortuna and 30 Ability. In the event that a team maxes out both Fortuna and Ability, it shall be automatically manumitted, and its horses retired from racing, to live out their days peacefully. 11.9 SO YOU WANT TO HOST THE GAMES, EH? Good for you! If you‘re an Aedile, of course, it‘s your job. If you‘re a private citizen, it is a great opportunity to gain gobs of influence points. But… It‘s a lot of work. Here‘s a quick checklist:  Announce the Games in a posting in the Forum thread  Pay the costs associated with staging your games (a posting in the Finances thread).  Keep track of all the gladiators and chariot teams entered. (Many PC‘s will enter more than one team).  Once you have a complete list of entrants, you need to cross-check the name of each gladiator and chariot team on the SOTR, and take careful note what their basic modifier is, along with their CurrentFortuna and Ability numbers.  The Arbiters will provide you with a spreadsheet to use in running the games. You‘ll have to enter the contestants/combatants into the sheet; roll the die (to include the jockeying roll for the chariot races) and record the results.  If it‘s a multiple elimination tournament (where the winners of each round duke it out against each other in subsequent rounds until only one victor remains), you‘ll have to do this several times.  Teams will crash and gladiators will get killed. You‘ll have to keep track of all of this.  Once you have the results for each round, you‘ll have to put up a post in the Forum Thread announcing the results of each bout. If you merely say ―Glaucus defeated Brumbo‖ with no further detail, that will suffice…but it won‘t make for a very interesting post. If a gladiator is killed in a bout, that info should definitely be included in your posting.  Between rounds, other PCs and Writers may make their posts describing their reactions from the stands.  Once the final victor has been announced, the games are complete.  If you are staging a large event, it will probably include both races and gladiatorial bouts. The above process is essentially the same for either.  If the festival includes plays, poetry reading, or other non-combat events, those can be posted at any time during the above sequence. This process may take several days IRT, and that is fine. The Arbiters will be more than willing to help you get started. The Legacy of Sulla © Copyright 2011 Jim Sebastian